Wednesday, October 31, 2012

I sat in with "Tank" from the Underscoop Fire podcast last week as we gave some running commentary to the 1979 Collegeville Costumes catalog. The conversation ranges from KISS to Marie Osmond and as always, I slip in some "A Man Called Sloane" references (somebody has to!). It was a lot of fun to do and hopefully is to listen to as well.

My pal Corey (who always has neat stuff on Ebay) sent in some really cool photos of the different costumes produced for shows created by legendary TV producer Gerry Anderson and well, there is no better time to look at these, just gonna seem weird tomorrow. More Collegeville/Ben Cooper fun after the jump...

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I'm loving this photo sent to me by Jeff who is in the 1979 Collegeville Wolfman costume and his twin is in the Collegeville Skeleton. Jeff's uncle in the cool Don Post Skeleton mask and Dad is the Werewolf, also by Don Post. The Kooky Spooks Bat is his cousin.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Life is strange, if you had asked me 30 days ago if there was going to be a Lincoln Monster update in the Halloween blog posts this year, I'd have answered no.

Truth was, there wasn't much by the way of things to update. Then all hell broke loose and I've got more than I could ever hope to share, including the reveal of the Dracula solid box and the amazing Spiegel mailer set with it's girl victim, not to mention new variations! More after the jump:

Friday, October 26, 2012

October is the perfect month to unveil the newest Catalog from Azrak Hamway Internationl (AHI). Why? Because that's the year that the 70s Rack Toy Giant decided to license the Universal Monsters transforming thousands of us unsuspecting children into monster kids!

Combine that with more Superhero stuff you can shake a stick at and you've got the makings of a happy childhood!

Monday, October 22, 2012

My friend Corey sent me this image the other day and it's such a goofy marriage of two things I like, that I'm surprised I hadn't seen it before.

I'm assuming Collegeville had the bright idea that NASA would send monsters into space or is it that Astronauts were coming back as monsters, I'm not sure. If you had this suit as a kid drop me a line as to what the smock looked like.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Centsable, the people behind Socker Boppers also did a good business in Halloween costumes, who knew? This 1974 catalog shows that while they did in fact have several decent licenses like the Hanna Barbera clan , they were not above creating some of the ballsiest knock offs of the decade nor did the seem to have and fear of Stan Lee or Universal Studios.It's a fun trip filled with not only costumes but Halloween decorations too.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

I wasn't a kid when Imperial Toys got the Universal Monster license (and I'll touch upon this more next week) but I do have nostalgia for the line. There was a Frankenstein bop bag in the back of a KB Toys in Western NY that I visited for the majority of the late 80s and early 90s. I kept flirting with picking it up but never pulled the trigger.

At one point I spent the $10 on Nirvana's "Nevermind" cassette across the mall instead. I know that sounds like a a ramble but nostalgia can be a weird, winding road sometimes.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Behold the last Monster Rack Toy ever produced by AHI! Flasher Faces popped up five years after the Monster merchandise bonanza of the mid seventies and while AHI was doing wonderful things with the license under their Remco brand, these flasher faces are the sole bit of cheap, dime store goodness produced during this period.I bought the Wolfman above so I could feature it in Rack Toys, I'm cheating with the Flashlight used because this is some super LED thing from my junk drawer and not the one included, which needed a new bulb.If anyone has the Frankenstein and would like to sell it, please drop me a line. Despite my "I only collect figural items" rule, for some reason I really like these.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Miner (who seemed to have bought Multiple Toys) released these remote controlled inflatable figures in 1980 and what a super team up! Mickey Mouse, Dracula, The Incredible Hulk and a Shogun Warrior looking robot. It's a child's version of the league of extraordinary gentlemen!

I remember not being particularly swayed by these as a nine year old but now? I think they're awesome! Funny how that works....

Friday, October 12, 2012

I am lucky enough to know the owner of these original factory pulls of the 9" Remco Creature from the Black Lagoon and Phantom of the Opera figures. It's also advantageous that he brought them over to my house last spring and let me photograph them.

From the collection of the line's sculptor, the difference between the test pulls and detail lost in the glow plastic is staggering. Some fun close ups after the jump:

The Creature shows a great deal of detail lost, when I first saw it I worried it wasn't the same figure but it is.

Kissing cousins.

As much as I love the Remco Monsters, the Phantoms glow plastic and paint job really spoiled a nice head sculpt.

"I can't believe we're related"Many thanks to my buddy for allowing me to document these amazing items and hopefully in the future, we'll get to see the rest of the Remco Monster Squad...

Thursday, October 11, 2012

James didn't have any vintage Halloween photos to submit so he sent in a video of his cool Halloween party from '73. James is dressed as Frankenstein but I also spotted a Collegeville The Spider costume, which I think I wore in '75.

Thanks James!

For more 1973 check out the Collegeville Costume Catalog from that year: